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 Ultralight precision precut plywood kayak and canoe kits. Est. 1955. |
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| I have long had an interest in sea kayaks, but, until my youngest son took up Olympic sprint kayak racing in 1991, I didn’t do anything about it. Volunteering for his racing club, the St. Albert Canoe & Kayak Club, got me to learn more about kayaking. One year, as club commodore, I was able to find funding for a sea kayak so that parents and other adults could do some participating. That, plus having a club coach on hand for instructions, enabled me to get going. With my interest in carpentry, the prospect of building my own sea kayak came to the fore. I had already investigated several suppliers when I came across the Lightening 17 package produced by Waters Dancing. I found it to be every bit as good if not better than any of the others. Being a local supplier made the decision that much easier. I have been really pleased with both the package and the support that Waters Dancing supplies. Here is picture of me with my boat on first launching. |
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| With the knowledge of sprint kayaks that I picked up, I decided to include some modifications while building the kayak. First off, I didn’t like the idea of having a big rudder hanging off the back like some mismatched afterthought. And while I was told that a rudder wasn’t really necessary with the design of this boat, I decided to try an integrated rudder, built from part of the boat itself. This design has worked out well. |
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The rudder is mounted on a brass shaft feeding up through a well-greased copper tube to a wooden pulley just below the deck. Besides closing in the openings that resulted from cutting out the rudder, I added a small bulkhead just ahead of the rudder and a horizontal bulkhead just below the pulley. The voids in the rudder and below the pulley were filled with Styrofoam packing pieces supplemented with some foam-in-place foam to prevent any water from getting inside these areas. Nylon cords were strung around the pulley, through small retainers to the steering assembly. And this brings us to the second area that I modified, the steering.
As any sprint kayaker knows, but few sea kayakers know, a good leg thrust at the beginning of a stroke is the strongest part of any kayak stroke. But alternating leg thrusts are just not compatible with sliding foot-peg steering. That is why Olympic sprint kayaks abandoned it more than 30 years ago in favor of tiller steering, combined with an adjustable footboard.
With tiller steering, the tiller protrudes through a slot in the footboard so that it can be moved left or right to select the direction of turn. The footboard is adjustable forward and back to accommodate the length of the paddler’s legs. This necessitated building out the foot glides so that they run parallel to one another, with the rigid footboard attached.
My last modification was designed to facilitate more leg thrust and torso twist within the cramped confines of the cockpit. It involved mounting the seat on a turntable so that it can rotate side to side. The effect of this can best be understood by sitting on an office chair, with one’s feet raised onto a rigid chair, and then alternately thrusting one’s legs.
Evaluation: First, the kit was very good, well designed, complete, and of excellent quality materials and preparation. Anyone building it as per spec would have a boat to enjoy and be proud of. As to my modifications, I quite enjoy the result. But these modifications are certainly not necessary on this boat. Before trying any of them, be aware that they are quite labour and time consuming, doubling the normal construction time, when using all of them. To some extent they can be selected quite independently of one another, for example, the integral rudder could be installed with regular sliding steering. |
